Free Essay on the Article: Exploratory Analysis of the Shopping Orientation in the Tunisian Context

1. What is the research question and objectives? Is it focused /broad, clear, delimitations?

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In the article Exploratory Analysis of the Shopping Orientation in the Tunisian Context, International Journal of Marketing Studies; Vol. 4, No. 5; 2012, Mejri, M., Debabi, M., and Nasraoui, K (2012) sought to analyze the shopping orientation from the context of Tunisia. The research objective was broad and clear in the sense that to answer the question, the shopping trip of the shoppers in this country was first analyzed based on the numerous factors like motives, frequency of the shopping activity and time devoted. The authors then sought to establish a shoppers typology on the basis of the shopping orientation and the socio-demographic factors of the shoppers in this country. The other parts of the research included review of the main shipping orientation works, implemented methodology and the major findings.

2. Theory

Is the theoretical framework relevant taking into account the objectives?

Considering the objectives of the article mentioned above, the theoretical framework was relevant. Though the shopping orientation concept has largely been studied from different perspectives, it has sparked a controversy in literature due to the complexity and most importantly the multidimensionality. This controversy was however addressed by the authors who provided a comprehensive description of the shopping orientation concept

Are concepts, assumptions, hypotheses exact / clear?

There is clear definition of concepts. According to the authors, shopping orientation concept could be defined as a personal dimension (for example, activities, interests, opinions, motives, needs and preferences) and a market behavior dimension or a general approach to acquiring goods and services. This market behavior dimension reflects the personal dimension and indicates needs and preferences for, inter alia, information sources, stores per se (patronage behavior) and store attributes (including store image) (p.2).

Is there a critical use of sources?

Most important was that information was drawn from different sources in order to corroborate the findings. By taking the views of different authors on the subject matter, the authors were able to make comparisons before coming up with a final deduction.

Is the writing style analytical?

Finally, it must be noted the writing style was analytical. The facts are brought out and discussed. To this effect, different elements connected to the concept of shopping orientation were discussed including: shopping trip; antecedents of this orientation like shopping motivations, demographic attributes of the shoppers, personal characteristics of the shoppers, characteristics of the stores; and profiles of the shoppers. A conclusion was then drawn from this analysis with the authors seeking to convince the readers to accept their viewpoint of the researchers who conducted the study

3. Methods /Empirical basis/Material

This was qualitative research

What is the method used? How is the choice of method argued? Is the argumentation satisfactory? Does the choice of method fit with the RQ?

This is a qualitative research where the research question is addressed using a face-to-face survey. This method is important in the sense that a large population can be represented.

How data was collected?

665 shoppers were sampled from various age groups and classes of occupation. What do you think about the reliability and validity of the data collected?

The data was reliable in the sense that Specific demographic characteristics like marital status, level of education, marital status and professional status were presented. There is also a balance in that 41 percent and 44 percent of males and females were sampled

How the data is presented /analyzed? Is it in comprehensible form?

Besides the univariate analysis which permitted the description of the sample while establishing the distribution of variables, the authors also employed two methods of multivariate analysis. They included the multiple correspondence analysis and automatic classification. In order to examine the connection between qualitative variables of the research, a multiple correspondence analysis was used. It also helped in developing a typology of shopping trips. The automatic classification was adopted in order to create a typology of shoppers from the different kinds of shopping trips.

Is there a link between theory and the analysis of the empirical data?

From the above, it could be noted that there was a link between theory and the analysis of the empirical data. Has the research question/problem been answered by the data?

The research question was answered by the data. This is because the data sought to establish whether the participants attended one or more stores, estimate the average shopping frequency and duration, and offer details of the socio-demographic profiles

4. Results & Conclusion

What do you think about the way results have been presented, evaluated and interpreted?

There was clear presentation, evaluation and interpretation of results.The article sought to analyze the shopping orientation from the context of Tunisia. From the analysis, it became apparent that for the shoppers in Tunisia, the utilitarian motivations dominate in regard to experiential and hedonic motivations. Furthermore, it was submitted that utilitarian shopping is cherished by many Tunisian shoppers. The article has also presented the diversity of the shopping behavior among Tunisians and showed that cultural variations justify this form of behavior. Moreover, the research demonstrated that a two-class typology including fill-in and major shopping is increasingly deductive of the truth. As a matter of fact, the findings have highlighted the significance of the hedonic aspect of the shopping activities, thus proposed the need to consider a new class of shopping trips. This was the recreational shopping trips which are largely found in recent marketing studies and that lay emphasis on pleasure, fun, environment and social interaction. In this study, a difference was established between common fill-in shopping trips and light fill-in trips. The latter entails frequent though rapid and light visits. The former is less frequent. In addition, it does not go beyond one hour.

Has the discussion of the results and conclusions been tied to the theoretical discussion conducted earlier?

Discussion of the results and conclusions has been tied to the theoretical discussion conducted earlier. By considering the socio-demographic attributes of the shoppers, the authors were able to provide a clear picture of the profiles of these shoppers. This further resulted in deeper knowledge of the shopping behavior. For instance, it became apparent that singles still residing with their parents and students who lack strong purchasing power were likely to engage in light fill-in shopping trip. It was further established that housewives who lack profession are likely to engage in recreational shopping trip. Those who are retired or married with kids engage in planned shopping behavior due budgetary reasons. Ultimately, those from the middle class including farmers and merchants embrace or rather engage in the ordinary fill-in shopping trip.

Is there appropriate discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the study?

This research has greater theoretical input. In addition, it has greater practical significant. From these findings, it becomes easier for retailers to have better knowledge of market segmentation and boost their customer relationship management strategies. These findings can also help the retailers boost their communication. It would be important that the retailers lay more emphasis on the hedonic significance of the shopping activity when communicating with shoppers who engage in recreational shopping. The retailers will also have to embrace the utilitarian value more so the gain of time when communicating with shoppers involved in fill-in shopping.

Were the objectives achieved?

The research was largely exploratory in nature. This coupled with the unrepresentative nature of the sample and failure to consider some elements of the shopping behavior make it difficult to extrapolate the results.

What do you think is the main contribution of the study?

Considering the value of the customers and how recent the purchases were and other characteristics of individual shoppers can result in better understanding of the shopping behavior. On the other hand, by carrying out this kind of research in a cross-cultural context, it will be easier to have deeper insight of the impact of cultural variables as far as shopping behavior is concerned

5. General assessment

The logic and structural clarity of the thesis

In summary, the article was well written in a language that could be understood with ease. Any literate person could be able to read the article and make assessments and conclusions from it. From the topic of the research, the reader is able to understand the intended objective. The main objective was to analyze the shopping orientation from the context of Tunisia. The theoretical framework brought the reader to speed with the subject matter. From the literature reviews, the readers were able to broaden their knowledge about the concept. A face-to-face survey helped in conducting the research. A sample of 665 shoppers was enough to make generalizations and to analyze the specific demographic characteristics like marital status, level of education, marital status and professional status were presented. The univariate analysis, multiple correspondence analysis and automatic classification were used analyze the responses. The findings are in tandem with the purpose of the research. For instance, it was established that for the shoppers in Tunisia, the utilitarian motivations dominate with reference to experiential and hedonic motivations. In addition, the diversity of the shopping behavior among Tunisians was presented and it was demonstrated that cultural variations justify this form of behavior.

Manner of presentation: use of references, tables, reference list and appendices (see writing instructions; Layout and finalization of the thesis

There is indeed a structural clarity. Most important is the fact that the presentation was clear. By providing the references used in the study, the table and appendices, the readers are not only allowed to have better understanding of the facts, rather they are able to make their own analyses, make comparisons and come up with their deductions. The article was therefore conclusive and effective.

References

Mejri, M., Debabi, M., &Nasraoui, K. (2012). Exploratory analysis of the shopping orientation in the Tunisian context. International Journal of Marketing Studies 4(5).